


Racing the Haboob

by Dash9er



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Caves, Desert Keith Week 2018, Gen, Pre-Kerberos Mission, Survival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 02:58:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15185237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dash9er/pseuds/Dash9er
Summary: Because there was nothing normal about this storm.It wasn’t the no-problem-wait-it-out kind of haboob. No, this thing started at ground level and billowed seven or eight hundred feet high. The cloud had now swallowed the red sunset behind it, casting an eerie deep red glow over everything. It looked like the kind of cloud that would precede a giant, hostile spaceship. A cold sweat broke out on Keith’s body.





	Racing the Haboob

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by Desert Keith Week: Day 4-- Exploring!!

Keith glanced back over his shoulder, careful to not tip the hoverbike as he did. Damn. That giant red dust cloud was moving fast in his direction, propelled by a seriously strong gust of wind. It kept catching on different parts of his bike and shoving it to the side. On a road with a small cliff on one side, it was really not ideal.

Keith was beginning to question his decision to try to beat the storm. At this rate, he was going to be overtaken well before he got home, which sucked, because that wind was dangerous and any kind of machine ran worse with sand clogging all the parts.

Sand was already stinging his face and the dust cloud hadn’t even hit yet. Keith pulled up his bandanna over his nose. He started scanning the canyon around him desperately. Any kind of a cave would do, though one big enough to fit his hoverbike in would be ideal. Basically, a garage cave would be perfect.

But the canyon walls on either side were blank.  _Why_  hadn’t he planned better?

Well, sure, a thunderstorm had been predicted over in Phoenix, but that was more than a hundred miles away. A collapsing storm  _sometimes_  caused a dust storm, or haboob, as the cadets at the Garrison had called it, but not always. Whatever he should or shouldn’t have done, the weather guy on the radio this morning was obviously wrong and now Keith could be in serious trouble.

Because there was nothing normal about this storm. It wasn’t the no-problem-wait-it-out kind of haboob. No, this thing started at ground level and billowed seven or eight hundred feet high. The cloud had now swallowed the red sunset behind it, casting an eerie deep red glow over everything. It looked like the kind of cloud that would precede a giant, hostile spaceship. A cold sweat broke out on Keith’s body.

Getting lost during a dust storm was a primary danger, followed by getting injured from debris flung about by the wind and also…getting buried in a moving sand dune. Keith shuddered. What a way to go. Not a lot of things scared him, but the idea of being on a sand dune that collapsed and swallowed you, burying you in sand…yeah, that scared him, had since he was a kid.

He needed to find a cave  _now._  Finally, he was out of the canyon and headed toward a plateau. Could he beat it there? Keith switched gears and hit his top speed. The dust was overhead now, blocking out most of the radiant light from the sunset and plunging the desert world in shadow. Keith flicked on his lights and gritted his teeth. If he didn’t find a cave soon, he was going to have to stop and try to find enough shelter from the body of his hoverbike. Driving in zero visibility would be complete lunacy.

“Nice going, idiot,” Keith berated himself. He’d been so concerned about having enough fuel to last through exploring the canyons on the other side of the plateau that the danger of a dust storm just hadn’t felt as important.  _How could he be so stupid?_

 _Don’t ask that question. You can’t go back,_ he heard Shiro’s voice say and a deep, familiar pain welled up inside him. _Just go forward. Learn from this._

“Yes, sir,” he whispered. He couldn't bring Shiro back, but he was determined to remember Shiro's words, to honor his friend in this small way.

And then he saw it ahead—a dark shadow against the far corner of the plateau. Could that be a cave? Instinct drove him directly toward it and slowly, it gained depth and size until it was almost as tall as Keith. It wouldn’t fit his hoverbike—too narrow, but it was good enough to take shelter in.

He neared the plateau, slowing, just as complete darkness swept over him. A surprisingly strong wind gusted and spun him off-track. Keith powered down and tried to stop, but the wind kept him moving forward.

With gritted teeth, he managed to ground his craft and step out, putting both arms over his face. Dust swirled around his head now, roaring and making him stagger in the direction he thought the cave might be. But he wasn’t sure. Those last five feet he’d driven hadn’t been in a straight line, and he was still a good distance from the cave. If he started out just inches off, he could miss the thing entirely.

Keith stopped and squinted, peering through the murky darkness. Sand and grit blew in his eyes right away, stinging so badly that he cursed. Tears gathered and streamed down his cheeks as he reached out with both hands and tried to imagine where in the hell this cave could be.

And it was there, in the howling dark, that he first felt it—a pull. It seemed that the cave was in that direction. Keith fought it at first. Wasn’t that at least thirty degrees from where he had been headed? He couldn’t have been that far off.

But the pull got stronger and the wind blew harder and desperation sent him along the trajectory toward that…energy. Whatever it was, it had to be better than this—

Keith stumbled, foot catching and sending him sprawling. Pain seared through one hand; he’d thrust it into some kind of cactus. How could it hurt so bad? He forced himself back up and moved more slowly now.

After another slight stumble, his uninjured hand found stone—a stone wall.  _Yes, the plateau!_  That meant that overhead was a towering monument of rock pitted and cut with lines of erosion. And somewhere along here was that cave…

Once again, he turned and headed in the direction of the strange energy. What did that even  _mean?_  It was almost a light in his mind, a faint blue energy. He was beginning to doubt himself long before he felt an empty space in the rock. But then he found it—the cave!

Stumbling through the entry, he felt his way in among the boulders. It was quieter in here, and such a relief to be out of the swirling wind. His eyes were still streaming tears, refusing to open and his hand was throbbing from the multiple pricks in it. Haboobs could last up to three hours. This was not going to be a fun wait.

Feeling carefully, Keith found a place to sit and rest, his back against the cave wall. Really, he was lucky that so far he hadn’t met any critters in here. Maybe if he sat quietly, they’d leave him alone. Experience had taught him in the desert that life was always springing up in the unexpected places, in quiet places. He could only hope that this cave housed something cute and furry instead of something ugly and venomous.

After about five minutes of constant tears, his felt cleansed enough to open. Even then, it was blurry and too dark to taken in anything. The dust outside had turned sunset into midnight. Might as well keep his eyes closed, really.

But he needed to deal with these cactus spines. Keith groaned. He’d have to do everything by flashlight and one-handed. With the small penlight from one pouch in his mouth, Keith inspected his injured hand. This was one reason he loved his gloves: protection. The fine spines had stuck through the hole on the back of his right glove and a few were embedded in his fingers, but it could have been much worse. Touching them produced sharp, tiny pains.

Grimacing, Keith pulled duct tape and scissors out of his pouch. He cut one piece of tape long enough and carefully laid it on his hand, pressing down. When he pulled away the tape, all the fine spines came with it. Or at least he hoped it was all of them. He repeated the procedure on his fingers and one more time on the back of his hand. This time, it felt like all of the spines were gone.

It was lucky that he didn’t fall into a cactus with longer spines or one with barbs at the end of the spines; those were much harder to deal with. Next he pulled antiseptic wipes and a bandage out of his pouch because even stupid, small wounds had to be kept clean in the desert. The ointment he put on kept the worse of the stinging away and he was able to put back on his glove.

It would be nice to build a fire, but he’d have to go outside to collect tinder and wood, so nope. He thought through the rest of his kit: compass, multi-tool, aluminum whistle, cable saw, paper and pencil and a small vial of water. Nothing would help him now but the water.

With a sigh, he uncapped it and swallowed it all. Then he took off his jacket, rolled it and put it under his head. The dull roar of the wind outside had ceased to be alarming and the long day of exploring was catching up to him. For some reason, this cave, this energy….felt safe?

Keith yawned and stretched out on the sandy cave floor. He was asleep in minutes, too tired to even worry about his hovercraft and what its condition would be in the morning.

Eight hours later, he would stir and realize the storm was gone after having dumped sand two feet high all the way across the cave entrance.

After another half an hour, well rested and thinking more clearly, Keith would decide to get out the mini flashlight again and look around the cave because that energy wouldn’t leave him alone. And that’s when he would discover the first pictures on a cave wall depicting a giant blue lion and a mysterious countdown.

 


End file.
